The Analysis of Gaming’s Complex Impacts on Children’s Health

In 2020, an 11-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister from Hebei, a province in China’s northern part, were allowed to use electronic devices like smartphones because of the coronavirus lockdown and online classes. They soon got too addicted to mobile games like the open-world game Mini World and the battle game PUBG. After playing the games for up to eight hours every day, on March 22, under the curiosity to imitate game scenes and to see whether they could fly like characters in Game of Peace and Mini World, they went onto the roof of their residential building and then jumped off at 15 meters. The children sustained serious injuries and multiple broken bones. But they survived miraculously. They then underwent several surgeries from borrowing relatives’ money and online donations. Unfortunately, even with surgeries, the children will never fully recover from the incident and the effects of their injuries will stay with them for their whole life (Yahoo News Australia). The news quickly led to a widespread discussion about the dangers of gaming, whether children should be allowed to play games, and why the games did not have specific regulations for children.

Statistics from the Common Sense Census 2021 report stated that in 2021, the average 8-year-old to 12-year-old played approximately 1.5 hours of video games daily, and the average 13-year-old to 17-year-old played for almost 2 hours. Also, the percentage of tweens and teens who enjoy playing video games a lot is 47% and 39% (Common Sense Media). These surprising statistics and news seem to support the assumption that children, as the most vulnerable type of gaming player, are deeply affected by gaming’s negative impacts because of the large number of children playing video games for such a long time. However, the reality is far more complicated, even to the point that video games are beneficial to child development.

Admittedly, some research seems to suggest that gaming can hurt young players’ mental and physical health. Children may develop more aggressive behaviors with more exposure to violent games based on the research done in the book, Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. Anderson, Gentile, and Buckley examined how 9-year-old to 12-year-old children, and 17-year-old to 29-year-old college students’ aggressive behaviors are influenced after playing violent or non-violent video games. After playing video games for 20 minutes, participants were required to enroll in a competition with a random opponent. Participants were told that their opponent was another participant in the research, but in reality, it was the computer program instead of a real person. Before the start of the competition, the players first set the noise blast level, ranging from 1 to 10, for their opponents. Then the opponent’s chosen noise level was displayed on the screen, which was actually a random selection done by the computer program. During the competition, candidates were supposed to compete for the mouse clicking speed with their opponents and the one who lost would hear the punishing noise blast. The researchers found that participants who played violent video games chose significantly higher noise blast levels for their opponents than those who played non-violent video games. Thus, they concluded that in the short term, exposure to violent video games can increase aggression (Anderson et al. 61–199). However, this study did not provide an accurate measure of aggressive behavior because it ignored the context that candidates are under competition. The participants were in such an intense situation of competing on the speed of clicking a mouse, and once they saw their opponent was choosing a noise level too high, it was hard for them to stay calm and not develop a sense of revenge. Hence, it is hard to tell to what extent their pick on noise blast levels was a result of the previous 20-minute playing of the violent video game.

Though the aggressive behavior impact of playing video games is scary, other researchers have contradictory results and struggled to document an association between playing violent games and displaying violent behavior in real life. In the book The Video Game Debate: unraveling the Physical, social, and Psychological Effects of Digital Games, the author talks about reasons why it is hard to provide a precise conclusion on the impacts of violent video games on aggression. This is because the definition of aggression is still unclear. It could be a specific behavior, an attitude, a thought, or a tendency. How researchers define aggression often leads to different conclusions (Coulson and Ferguson 58–71).

The assumption is also enhanced by the claim that the immersive nature of games can contribute to addiction. Research done by Grüsser, Thalemann, and Griffiths supported this idea by sending out 2 online questionnaires to 7069 gamers. The questionnaires concerned gaming behavior and the resulting dataset indicated 840 participants, 11.9%, of the total sample fulfilled at least three addiction criteria on gaming behavior (Grüsser et al.). The data that 12 percent of gamers are addicted to video games seems pretty high and brings up lots of parents’ worries about their children’s mental health. Even though it’s important to treat and support people with gaming addiction, what the conclusion statement in the research paper did not mention is that 88 percent of gamers are not addicted to video games. 12% is only a small fraction of the gamers and most people did not get addicted.

While it is important to acknowledge the potential negative impacts of gaming on children’s mental and physical health, it is equally crucial to recognize the positive aspects that games can contribute to children’s overall well-being. Casual video games can be tools for emotional expression and stress relief for some children. Carmen, Kevin, and Jennifer studied how people are going to be affected after playing the casual video game, Bejeweled II. They separated 69 candidates into two groups. One group played the casual video game, Bejeweled II, and the other group searched on the Internet for articles related to health for 20 minutes. They used electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring to collect alpha brain waves and determine people’s mood changes. The EEG monitoring showed that there is an average decrease of the left alpha brain waves, demonstrating people’s positive mood change after playing casual video games (RUSSONIELLO et al.). Another researcher developed a casual video game on their own. The game did not have any hardness levels and was played on infinite maps. They used the POMS and POMS-2 surveys to describe participants’ moods accurately. Results of the survey showed that the designed game reduced people’s stress and improved the overall mood of the participants (Ajmal et al.).

Playing video games also allows children to practice different skills like communication and collaboration. Jaime, Claudia, and Alvaro studied the effect of Mobile Serious Games on students and their collaborative skills. They used three games named “Evolution”, “BuinZoo,” and “Museum”. “Evolution” tests players’ strategy for biological classes and species by controlling variables related to the preservation and development of each species. “BuinZoo” and “Museum” are games that are played outside the school and students can revise the science concepts learned from classes. Participants included 206 students from 5 science classes and a control group of 167 students who only took the survey and did not participate in any gaming activities. The collaborative skills are measured through the problem-solving scales and collaborative scales in the survey. The result showed that the use of Mobile Serious Games contributes a lot to the development of collaborative skills. The experimental group did better in problem-solving because when playing strategic games, they need to consider every aspect and detail carefully before executing their plan. For leadership, when playing games in a group, the students in the experimental group must come up with a team member to regulate the work of the others (SANCHEZ et al.).

It is hard to conclude whether the game is positive or negative since it both improves and harms children’s health. Looking through the dual impacts of gaming on children’s mental and physical health, simply assigning all psychological and physical problems only to games is not advisable. It is essential to understand that games are being blamed and there are still many other factors influencing a child’s well-being. The fact that mental health issues in children existed before the widespread availability of games highlights the need to consider other contributing factors. Mental health issues may be related to family environment, socioeconomic factors, and genetics. Parental guidance is crucial in shaping how games influence a child’s mental health. One pattern from the experiment mentioned above on the correlation between exposure to violent video games and aggression is that when parents are more involved in children’s use of the media, like the content of the video games and time limitation, the children tend to be less aggressive (Anderson et al. 61–199). This provides another perspective in viewing games and emphasizes the importance and massive impacts parental guidance can bring to children.

As lots of other factors can affect children’s health, gaming is only an excuse to distract society’s attention from the actual cause of the problem. This way of solving the problem has been used for several decades and there are plenty of examples. When MP3 came out, music and the use of MP3 were said to be a disturbing toy for children and students. Too much use of mobile phones can easily decrease a student’s efficiency in studying. The Internet allows children to have access to inappropriate content like violent videos, suicide social media groups, and financial fraud. Animation characters who dyed their hair will affect their children’s mental health. If all those theories are true, then it is hard to find things that are totally safe and positive for children.

In previous times, there was one Chinese clinical psychiatrist named Yang Yongxin. He used electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without anesthesia or muscle relaxants as a cure therapy for internet and video game addiction in adolescents. At that time, people believed that video games were harmful and that sending their children to Yang Yongxin would make the children better, even though there wasn’t enough proof that their children had Internet and video game addiction. These children’s physical and mental health were highly damaged because of the ECT. These irrational decisions are mainly because of widespread claims like increasing aggressive behavior and leading to children’s addiction, leading to games being blamed. To avoid similar things happening again, rather than focusing on video games’ possible impacts, treating them as neutral terms is better.

Works Cited

1. Ajmal, Abdullah, et al. “Stress-Relieving Video Game and Its Effects: A POMS Case Study.” Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, vol. 2022, no. Article ID 4239536, 20 Apr. 2022, pp. 1–11, www.hindawi.com/journals/cin/2022/4239536/, https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4239536. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.
2. Anderson, Craig A., et al. Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents : Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Libproxy2.Usc.edu, Oxford University Press, 11 Jan. 2007, pp. 61–199, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/socal/detail.action?docID=416029&pq-origsite=primo. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
3. Common Sense Media. “The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021 | Common Sense Media.” Www.commonsensemedia.org, 9 Mar. 2022, www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2021. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
4. Coulson, Mark, and Christopher J. Ferguson. The Video Game Debate : Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Digital Games. Edited by Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt, 1st Edition ed., New York, Routeldge, 13 Sept. 2015, pp. 58–71, doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.4324/9781315736495. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.
5. Grüsser, S M, et al. Excessive Computer Game Playing: Evidence for Addiction and Aggression? Vol. 10, no. 2, 10 Apr. 2007. Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society, doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9956. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
6. RUSSONIELLO, Carmen V. , et al. “EEG, HRV and Psychological Correlates While Playing Bejeweled II: A Randomized Controlled Study.” Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine. 2009, Advanced Technologies in the Behavioral, Social, and Neurosciences, edited by Giuseppe Riva and B. K. Wiederhold, Amsterdam, Interactive Media Institute and IOS Press, July 2009, pp. 189–192, doi:10.3233/978–1–60750–017–9–189. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.
7. SANCHEZ, Jaime , et al. “Mobile Serious Games for Collaborative Problem Solving.” Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2009 : Advanced Technologies in the Behavioral, Social and Neurosciences, edited by B. K. Wiederhold and Giuseppe Riva, 1st ed., Netherlands, Interactive Media Institute and IOS Press, June 2009, pp. 193–197, doi:10.3233/978–1–60750–017–9–189. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.
8. Yahoo News Australia. “Siblings Addicted to Video Game during Lockdown Jump off Roof.” Yahoo News, 16 May 2020, au.news.yahoo.com/siblings-addicted-game-lockdown-jump-building-234347281.html?guccounter=1. Accessed 23 Jan. 2024.